


Like Clockwork

by machiia



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Domestic Fluff, M/M, glorified workaholic tendencies so do not do this, there are some other characters that appear briefly but it's so brief that i'm not tagging them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:15:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27554455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiia/pseuds/machiia
Summary: When Kokichi and Shuichi decide to live together, they thought they would be spending a lot more time together, but they live life by polar opposite schedules. Despite this, they manage to make it work.-A look at their day and night routines.
Relationships: Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 106





	Like Clockwork

**Author's Note:**

> This was prompt 1 (day/night) from Saiouma Week on tumblr (and this was an event way back in July-August, so... yeah, this is late), but I finally dug it out of fanfic folder and viola!

[6AM]

The bed creaks and Shuichi wakes before his alarm.

He doesn’t need to open his eyes – or really, take off his sleeping mask to know what’s happening. He feels the telltale signs of the bed dipping and knows Kokichi only climbs into the bed as haphazardly as he can when it’s time for Shuichi to get up. He’s grown accustomed to having the younger man as an alarm clock, especially when he’s not-so-accidentally knocking his knees against Shuichi as he crawls up the length of the bed to his spot against the wall. Shuichi wonders why he even bothers with setting his alarm if Kokichi always rouses him first.

The bed dips one final time as Kokichi situates himself in a comfortable position, and with a small grunt, he rips most of the comforter from Shuichi’s bundled body. The smaller figure shimmies underneath the blanket until he’s made a proper cocoon, a pleased hum fills the air. Shuichi immediately grumbles, turning to seek the warmth of the blanket but mostly so he can bury his face into Kokichi’s back. The better warmth.

Shuichi slings his arm around Kokichi’s stomach and pulls him close, flattening his back to his own chest. Shuichi’s face migrates from his partner’s clothed shoulder blade up to his bare neck. Kokichi’s hair is cool and faintly damp here, and Shuichi notices as it paints his cheeks with the full fragrance of grape shampoo. Shuichi wants to bury himself in it, so he nuzzles the hair at the nape.

Kokichi tries to keep still and silent, but he’s struggling because Shuichi’s skin is always icy – even freshly pulled from a warm sleeping nest, his nose is sucking all the warmth from Kokichi’s neck. Plus, his neck is so ticklish and the light prodding of his hair – ahh, it all _tingles_ , making goosebumps ripple over his skin with a gentle shiver. But then they’re both still, and warm (or getting there), and it makes it so easy for Kokichi to sigh in relief (and in exhaustion) into sleep. Shuichi dozes along with him.

Until fifteen minutes later when the alarm startles him awake. And _oh_ , that’s why he still sets his alarm.

Kokichi hunches further into the pile of blankets, muttering, “I’m going to burn the school down one of these days, so you don’t have to go to class.”

He’d rather burn his alarm, Shuichi thinks as his hand slaps around the nightstand until it hits the off button, silencing the shrill beeps. He’s about to snuggle back into Kokichi’s back to savor a few more seconds, but Kokichi shrugs him off. Shuichi refuses to move away though, so Kokichi turns over and pats his face, yanking the sleeping mask from his face.

Immediately, Shuichi shuts his eyes, but the bright sunlight pouring from the open window decorates his eyelids a loud shade of pink. It’s enough to chase away any of his lingering drowsiness. He blinks hard, furrowing his eyebrows and allowing his eyes to adjust to the harsh contrast.

Once Shuichi can open his eyes without wincing, he focuses on Kokichi, who is closely watching him to esnsure that he actually wakes up. Then Shuichi remembers what the other just said a few moments ago.

“You can’t tell me about premeditated arson, I’m a detective.” 

Kokichi snorts, figuring Shuichi’s awake enough to not need any further assistance staying conscious, so he gets comfy in the bed again before saying, “Helloooo? Why do you think I dated _you_?” He examines his hair for split ends. “So I could learn everything I need to know to get away with high-crime.”

Shuichi shakes his head, and Kokichi cackles.

“I forgot the most important part,” Kokichi pauses for effect before turning his attention back to his boyfriend. His eyes sharpen with dangerous intent, “Kill the witnesses!” The comforter flies over Shuichi’s head and Kokichi dives forward, enveloping him in a hug and smothering him with spearmint-flavored kisses. Kokichi avoids his mouth because he knows Shuichi is self-conscious about his morning breath, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to be gentle with him. He said he was going to kill his witness and he plans to.

After a few more minutes, Shuichi’s second alarm blares, warning them that Shuichi _really_ needs to start getting ready for the day. Deflated, Kokichi unlatches his mouth from his boyfriend’s neck and rolls off. Panting and red-faced, Shuichi gets up and darts to the bathroom.

When he comes back out, he’s showered and wearing a particularly shameful look on his face that he’s glad Kokichi doesn’t comment on. At the lack of teasing, Shuichi’s gaze falls to the bed. He notices a tuft of purple hair spilling over the pillow, sees the blanket lift, and hears the soft exhale when the blanket sinks again. Shuichi smiles, grateful to see Kokichi peaceful.

Before leaving the room, Shuichi hovers near the bed, brushes the purple hair away from Kokichi’s face, and bends down to kiss his brow. The sleeping figure stirs, and says, “I left your food in the microwave today, my beloved Shu...” Voice trailing at the end, stolen by sleep.

Shuichi bites back the urge to kiss him again and again but only pecks him once more, a quiet _thank you_ on his temple. He loosens the curtains so they evenly spread over the window, plunging the room into pleasant darkness.

“Goodnight.” He whispers in the direction of the bed before taking extra care to close the door quietly.

In the microwave, he finds a plate of grilled cheese and a generous amount of sliced fruit, and by the stove, a tea bag steeping in a still-warm cup of water. Shuichi shakes his head with a glowing smile eating his face, he looks to the door of the bedroom with fondness, always fondness. Then he leans against the counter and enjoys his meal, mouth filling with that honeyed warmth of love.

+++

[10AM]

Shuichi is in between classes, already working diligently on homework he just received from his 8AM that morning. He typically works on assignments as soon as they’re assigned, not because he’s a great student but because he doesn’t like doing work when he’s home. It’s harder to focus when a short purple-haired distraction lives with him, so he does as much coursework as he can while at school.

He grumbles, editing the four paragraphs that have been blinking on his screen for the last twenty minutes. He’s getting nowhere with this interpretative essay, ideas feeling wispy and out of grasp. The laptop closes neatly – a sad sigh accompanied with the soft click – and the document automatically saves.

He sets his forehead against the edge of the cool table, and he shuts his eyes. He allows himself to stay like that for the duration of three My Chemical Romance songs buzzing out of the earbuds that dangle around his neck.

The last song ends, “ _If this is what you want / Then fire at will._ ”

On cue, he pauses the fourth song before it begins and sits up. The computer unfolds itself, and he feels rejuvenated enough to work (all thanks to the sheer power of the Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge album). Or maybe not enough to work, but the moment of indulgence was much needed, so he’s going to force himself to work anyways. He rereads the instructions before reopening his document. Shuichi pops some grapes into his mouth and the sweetness is enough to clear his head whenever his fingers falter over the keyboard.

+

Kokichi is happily burrowed under the blankets, snoring lightly in the quiet apartment.

+++

[1PM]

Morning is relative for Kokichi because he wakes up around noon, but as far as he’s concerned, he still has to deal with the hassle of waking up and the routine of getting ready like everybody else. But he’s never been a morning person, even if he gets to wake up later than everyone else. It’s just _soooo_ difficult to get up after being cozy in the sanctuary of a bed.

So he lays there for a few minutes, soaking in the idea that he has to be awake. Mental preparation is vital.

When he rolls out of the bed, annoyance radiates off his body, not wanting to tackle the day. But between grumbling and half dragging the comforter out with him, he makes it over to the bathroom to wash his face. Under the spray of the faucet, he hears the door open and knows Shuichi is home from classes. He smiles, spilling toothpaste suds down his chin because now he has more incentive to be awake.

The bedroom door opens, spilling light into the otherwise very dark room.

“I wasn’t sure if you were awake yet,” Shuichi says when he spots the bed empty and hears the noise in the bathroom. He sees a shadowy smudge in the unlit room and guesses it’s Kokichi still scrubbing the sleep from his eyes, stationed in front of the mirror.

If he hadn’t been living with Kokichi for a few weeks already, he would’ve freaked out and thought he came upon some apparition. He only finds it a fraction unnerving now whenever he finds the other doing basic tasks in the dark, but Kokichi only does it during the day – not like Kokichi’s previous roommate who did it all day, any hour.

Shuichi shivers at an unfortunate memory when a few months before they moved in together, he spent the night at his boyfriend’s. He went to use the hallway bathroom in the middle of the night, and the lights were off and the ventilation fan was whirring, but the door was unlocked so he went in anyways. He remembers leaving the lights off because there was a small nightlight plugged in above the sink, and he knew he was going to be in and out. When he began to use the toilet, Korekiyo decided to step out of the shower dripping wet, and Shuichi remembers peeing all over the floor (and perhaps, by default, a little on Korekiyo’s feet) when running away. 

“… like this is all muscle memory. I can sleep with my eyes open now.” Kokichi’s voice reels Shuichi into reality, and he’s grateful for the distraction against his dread. Ahhh, he hates thinking about it, so he focuses on Kokichi, his face, and the toothpaste streaming down his face. “I’m still snoozing.”

Maybe it’s because of the cringey feeling of knowing he peed on someone’s feet that still sits in the back of his head, lingering – he throws open the curtains, hailing “I can’t have you sleeping, you need to wake up,” as an excuse, when really, he just needs to do something to shake the anxiety off.

“It was a lie! You don’t have to be so mean!”

Kokichi stumbles back into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. The whining muffles, and Shuichi feels guilty but he keeps busy until his mind loosens, so he smooths the bedsheets and folds it to look crisp. When he picks the comforter off the floor to fluff out and drape over the bed, Kokichi cracks the bathroom door open and saunters across the room towards the closet, all while sending Shuichi a pointed look. Shuichi smiles because at least the other is awake.

The closet door slams shut, and Kokichi is standing in the dark, but it’s not a problem.

Kokichi has spent a fair amount of time in the closet (ha, good one), scratch that, this particular closet, so he knows where everything is for the most part. Jeans and anything else that go over his legs are in the lower drawers that sit in the back of the closet. His shirts are on the right, but he grabs something from the left (Shuichi’s side) and throws it on. He rummages in the drawers for something soft and pulls them on, dancing in place until everything fits over his body as it should.

When he throws open the door, he finds that his outfit isn’t… terrible, but anything from Shuichi’s side of the closet is just a variation of a shade of black or gray, so it’s hard to clash with those colors, even with his neon rainbow sweatpants.

“Do people ever ask if you dress in the dark?” Shuichi asks as he heads the kitchen.

“Haven’t you heard? I’m rivaling Enoshima for the best in fashion, dressing yourself in the dark is all the rage now.” Kokichi strikes multiple vogue poses, but Shuichi isn’t paying attention – he’s digging through the fridge for some ingredients.

Kokichi pouts, hopping up to sit on the counter. Like this, he’s level with Shuichi’s height and kissing would be easier, just having to slot themselves together while their food cook. But Kokichi has to wait until they decide what to cook first.

“Are you in the mood for anything in particular?” Shuichi crouches, pulling open the vegetable drawer, shifting through shredded cabbage and carrots. “It has to be healthy.” He quickly adds, knowing the other will go for rice with ketchup or more grilled cheese.

Kokichi feels scandalized because it’s unfortunately true, especially with the new schedule he has this semester.

“Fine. I want a big helping of Shumai!”

“Hmm, I guess I could make those dumplings, but I want us to eat these fruits or vegetables before they go bad.” He looks up and realizes that’s not what Kokichi meant, judging by his eyeroll. He rises to grab the oil from the cabinet near Kokichi’s head, and up close to his face like this, he drops his voice to a whisper – defending his assumption. “Shumai is a type of food too.”

“Kiss meeeeee.”

“But that’s not foo-” He’s muffled by a quick kiss.

Kokichi’s morning is crowded with teasing, cooking, and a lot less kissing than he’d like, but it’s fine because he spends most of it with Shuichi before they both have to move on with their busy schedules.

+++

[3PM]

Because Kokichi was caught in the middle of a big scandal that may or may not have been orchestrated by his organization DICE, he is under disciplinary probation until the end of next term. And to keep in the good graces of Hope’s Peak University, he has to tutor a bunch of students, remain as a full-time student (with good grades), _and_ have a part-time job of some form. Essentially, Kokichi suspects that they want him to fail so it’s easier to kick him out – he hasn’t given them many excuses to keep him since he’s a suspect in other pranks that have happened over the past two years – but that isn’t the point! Kokichi refuses to let the school play this game with him, so he’s trying.

But he knows it’s ridiculous – he doesn’t want to abide by this prestigious university’s high standards, but he doesn’t want them to feel like they bested him, so Kokichi keeps up with the work. He has to otherwise he’d have to kiss stubborn ego (but more importantly the organization he built from the ground up) goodbye. He’d rather die of exhaustion than have that taken from him.

Which is why he’s in the library, tutoring the exchange student from America. Kokichi’s always on the internet, so he’s comfortable explaining most concepts in either English or Japanese, whichever Gonta wants, but they stick to Japanese since Gonta needs to practice speaking the language.

They spend an hour together, today focusing on a lab report about insects, and Kokichi’s just proofreading and getting mildly disgusted from all the pictures Gonta keeps showing him. He’s too happy to tear himself away when he notices a few bodies standing idly in his periphery. Kokichi checks his watch, and time’s up: his other students are here.

“Looks like my next meeting is ready,” He announces when collecting his bag and ushering the corrected papers back to Gonta. “Bye Gokuhara, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He throws a loose arm over the man’s wide shoulders, a fast hug, and slips off to lead the group to a study room.

With a hand on the door, Kokichi asks, “Where’s my payment?”

Someone flashes the smoothie and muffin they smuggled into the library (strictly no food or drinks allowed), and Kokichi smiles wickedly, unlocking the room so he can teach them what they need to know before their exams.

+

Shuichi is filing through some case files when he receives a text from Kokichi.

**Dice Dice Baby:** isn’t this one yours?

**Dice Dice Baby** : _[kaito_facedown_in_textbook.jpeg]_

**Elementary, My Dear** : yes

**Elementary, My Dear** : is he asleep?

**Dice Dice Baby** : LOL you think I’d let ppl sleep if they come to me for help?

**Dice Dice Baby** : no, he’s groveling some so I don’t hit him with a ruler

**Dice Dice Baby** : I’ve always liked the nun approach to education _[kissing_ruler_selfie.jpeg]_

**Elementary, My Dear** : that sounds like another violation

**Elementary, My Dear** : but at least he doesn’t get too many things wrong, right?

**Elementary, My Dear** : …right Kokichi?

**Dice Dice Baby** : ttyl my beloved! (;

**Elementary, My Dear** : you didn’t answer my question

**[** _read_ **]**

+

Shuichi frowns at his phone and just hopes that he doesn’t see his friend with welts on the back of his hand or anything. This is just one of Kokichi’s lies, Shuichi assures himself, but he hopes that Kaito can retain any information he’s learning under his boyfriend’s guidance.

Work goes by a lot slower now that Kokichi left him with more questions than answers, and it’s just another reminder that he shouldn’t check his phone while at work.

+++

[7PM]

Shuichi checks the time and begins organizing his space for the next day, leaving a note for himself (and Kirgiri) about the case files he has left to sort through. Naegi meets him at the front, and they set up the alarm system before walking out together, locking the office behind themselves.

“How much longer do you have before you get the real title?” Naegi asks, walking the same direction as Shuichi to the train station.

“I have 3 more months before the examination.”

“That’s exciting,” he smiles and means it. “Is there anything you’re worried about?”

Shuichi has been trying to become more relaxed around his coworker, and other people in general. It’s gotten significantly easier because of people like Kokichi and Kaito in his life, but sometimes he stammers to come up with basic replies, especially if it requires sharing personal details. Anything factual is fine, which is why he and Kirigiri can interact normally, but this makes him think about himself and his worries.

Naegi looks at him, checking to see if the question registered. _It did_ , Shuichi tries to telepathically say that he’s just thinking, and he gulps because he feels like he has to rush to answer.

“Uh,” He clears his throat because it sounds raspy. “I think I’m worried about…” Shuichi pauses, thinking of the gap between himself and Kirigiri. She can carry herself better than he can, she’s more assertive – Naegi probably isn’t looking for this type of answer – Shuichi corrects his thinking back to the context of the question. The question arose because they talked about the exam. The exam. “I’m worried about the self-defense and firearm portions.”

“Understandable, I had to practice a lot with Kyoko to prepare for my exam. I passed the physical assessments, but it was just my luck to fail the written test.” He breaks out in a small laugh, then hesitates in front of the train doors, “If you want, I can ask her to prepare you?”

_Yes please,_ is caught in his throat, too stunned to say anything. When he realizes he can’t get the words out, he presses his lips into a grin and nods. 

“Okay, I’ll text her right now about it.”

He nods again, deeply grateful and hopes that his body language can reflect this, and then Naegi chuckles out an affirmative noise before slipping into his train as the doors shut.

Shuichi lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He’s proud of himself but can’t savor it yet – he rushes to the next terminal so he can catch his own train.

+

Kokichi is only halfway through his classes for the day. School won’t end until another hour and a half, and he’s already aggravated.

Kokichi squints at the board, but it doesn’t help his vision. He hates this class because the stupid seating arrangement keeps him at the back of the classroom, and he hasn’t gotten his glasses in the mail yet. He’s been to this professor’s office hours multiple times just to run through the lecture again so he can fill in the blanks of what he missed. He doesn’t have the energy to keep doing it every other class period.

He wants to bother his neighbor for the notes, but he glances over to their computer and they’re working on a module from a different class – from what it looks like, it’s biology. Kokichi deflates into his seat, throwing his head back to stare at the ceiling and mulling over what he’s about to do.

Kokichi grabs his notebook, gets up, and plops himself down on the stairs beside the first row. He gets comfortable, lying on his back, and propping his paper against his raised knees. The professor looks at him for a minute then resumes her lecture.

As Kokichi hums happily from the floor, scribbling away, he wonders if he can get a refund on his glasses. He obviously doesn’t need them anymore.

+++

[9:30PM]

It’s only after Shuichi showers off the sweat and grime from his work out with Kaito (no sign of being hit with a ruler, thankful) does he notice that Kokichi is late. Usually, they get home at the same time, but Shuichi figured Kokichi’s bus was running late so he went to shower, but stepping out in the quiet apartment, he thinks differently now.

He checks his phone as he pads across the cool wooden floor – Kokichi sent him a frowny face forty-five minutes ago and nothing else. He wants to call, but then he sees the dots jingle across the screen so Shuichi knows he’s okay, but frowns when he looks at the time.

He hopes he comes home instead of straight to his job like he did a few weeks. Shuichi ended up borrowing a city bike (all buses stopped for the night) and delivering Kokichi his dinner and a raincoat for the later rain that was supposed to sweep through the city.

Preparing for the possibility, Shuichi pulls out small containers to fill with sliced fruits and nuts. He pulls out the premade dinners that they made over the weekend and divides it in half; one for Kokichi’s container and one for himself to reheat now. As it heats up, he searches the pantry for a lunchbox – then he hears someone chanting obscenities outside.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” The door swings open on the last word, and Kokichi is out of breath, dropping his backpack at the door and shrugging off half his clothes. He doesn’t stop to kiss Shuichi, goes straight past the kitchen, leaving behind a trail of fabric in his wake. He’s naked (save for his underwear) by the time he disappears into the laundry room.

“I missed the train today, so I can’t sit down for dinner.”

Shuichi nods even if Kokichi can’t see him. While Kokichi changes into his uniform, trying to summarize how his classes went, Shuichi hides the lunchbox in his boyfriend’s backpack.

He’s back at the counter when Kokichi hurries out of the room in the café uniform, a maid dress – Kokichi prefers this version over the stuffy suit and tie that some of the other employees wear, plus he thinks he looks cute, Shuichi thinks he looks cute too.

“Have a good day at work,” Shuichi says at the same time that Kokichi wishes him, “Goodnight my beloved!”

He swipes his backpack off the floor and hurries out the door.

Shuichi sighs, carrying his reheated lasagna to the lonely table and begins eating. The door bursts open again, and Kokichi sprints to the bedroom and back, wheezing as he cheekily holds up the fancy black shoes stylishly decorated with a shiny buckle.

“Can’t work with crocs on.” He gestures down to his bright red racecar crocs.

Before Shuichi can say anything, Kokichi kisses him hard then wishes him a goodnight again as he leaves the apartment even faster than he entered it, shiny shoes dangling from his hands as he goes.

Shuichi wishes his boyfriend could’ve had time to breathe and drink a glass of water, but he knows the pressure Kokichi’s under and what it means when duty calls. He finishes dinner alone at the table, feeling the absence of his boyfriend as he moves through the motions of his evening.

[12AM]

Usually, he has more time to talk to Kokichi, but today was rushed, so Shuichi types a long message about work and how he talked to Naegi about his upcoming exam. Afterward, he falls asleep with a book splayed across his chest.

+

Kokichi is at the café across the city; instead of standing behind the counter with the intoxicating array of pastries, he’s at a nearby table with his papers spread out. He usually takes his breaks in the back, but the lull in customers offered a free opportunity to relax out in the open. He shovels lasagna in his mouth as he reads through textbook chapters, trying to read some sections aloud to commit the theories to memory.

Someone taps the table, and Kokichi looks up, ready to claim he’s on his break and to find someone else for assistance, but instead, his voice dies in his throat when he sees a member of DICE fidgeting there. He recognizes the question on their face and their hands filled with messy papers and a textbook. He frees the table of his own notes, and while they sit down and set up, he runs up behind the counter to tell Miu to cover for him if Hoshi gets backed up.

She lowers the neckline of her uniform and preens, “More tips for me.”

Kokichi signals to Hoshi that he’s not going back to the counter anytime soon, and Hoshi ignores him – which Kokichi has come to learn means _whatever, that’s fine_. If it gets busy again, Miu is there at the counter, flirting and fishing for big tips.

Kokichi grabs a slice of mooncake, handing over his own pocketed tips to Miu to cover the cost. He sits back down and pushes the neatly sliced cake over to his friend with a fork balancing on the edge of the plate.

His friend, who Kokichi thinks is more soft-spoken than Shuichi (didn’t really think it was possible but maybe that means he’s rubbed off on his boyfriend after all), only points at the chapter title from the open textbook then points down to their scrap paper where some math problems are scrawled.

Kokichi hates math, but he nods, tugging the textbook towards himself to review the lesson before he starts dissecting the homework questions; he gently pushes the cake towards them until they pick up the hint and start eating.

Testing his knowledge on a napkin, he manages to get a few questions right in a row. He drops the textbook back on the table and explains some of the concepts on his friend’s paper, illustrating his points with diagrams. They work through some problems that are similar to the homework questions, and once his friend feels confident, Kokichi gets up and starts helping around the café again, periodically stopping by the table to check on their progress.

“Excuse me, I saw that you were helping them with math homework and I was wondering if you knew anything about chemistry,” someone else says from behind him, and Kokichi can’t even turn around to scowl at them (chemistry, really? He should charge the person for even asking. Who do people think he is? A person willing to think critically about the elements?! Absolutely not, not in a million years – he has his lines). Miu doesn’t let Kokichi respond, simply barges past him.

“You got a lotta balls to be asking this shit for brains for chemistry help when I’m right here.” She tugs the young man to a booth in the corner.

Kokichi stifles his laugh. The gentleman has white, spiky hair, and looks dreadfully nerdy – just her type too. It looks like he’s going to be stuck at the counter for the rest of the night, so he sets an alarm on his phone for thirty minutes – a reminder to spill coffee on the guy if they’re still there.

Kokichi ends up spilling the coffee much sooner than that, blame the boredom of a slow night.

+++

[3:30AM]

They’re wiping down the chairs and tables, deep cleaning the kitchen and the display. Kokichi snags some leftover pastries and eats the still warm croissant sandwiches that went unpurchased. They leave to go.

Hoshi takes off on his motorcycle, and Miu hops on her own motorbike, and Kokichi begs to catch a ride with Miu even though he ruined her potential date. She tells him to fuck off, but she hasn’t started the bike yet. He hops on, hugging her below her chest, and they speed off to their side of town.

Kokichi arrives at the apartment, and he feels himself shed an extra skin. He’s home, he’s in his safe apartment where he can be with himself only (and a sleeping Shuichi), and he just really wants to take a nap, but he knows he’s wearing a few layers of grime, too much contact with other people. He wants to wash it out.

He tries to be extra quiet when he takes off his shoes and leaves them at the door. He takes the empty food container and places it in the sink, packs the pantry with some extra bread, and then he pulls out his notebooks and leaves it on the table. He starts unzipping himself from his uniform and gently, noiselessly pads towards his bedroom so he can shower.

He shuts the door of the bathroom behind himself before he flicks on the light. He showers with hot water, enough to steam the mirror and leave his laid out clothing feeling warm too.

He keeps a towel in his hair.

He does some of his homework in the living room, and then he grabs the switch and takes it into the bedroom.

He crawls up the bed as quietly as a cat, avoiding Shuichi’s splayed out limbs. And he plays until he beats a few levels. At first, this is when he used to knockout, as soon as he’d finish reviewing his notes or homework, but he liked to be awake when Shuichi woke up, so he started staying up – which wasn’t all that bad because he got to play video games (otherwise, Kokichi thinks he wouldn’t be able to handle his schedule all that well).

His eyes begin to get a little heavy, and he switches from the casual game to something that demands faster reflexes – he tabs out of Minecraft and loads The Legend of Zelda. When he starts yawning too much, he lies back, letting the screen beam up towards the ceiling like a beacon. He wants to latch himself to Shuichi’s back, but he doesn’t want to risk messing up the game controls like last time, so Kokichi slides off the bed.

He shuffles into the kitchen after depositing the console back in its port. He turns on the electric kettle and pulls out a mug and bowl. He drizzles honey at the bottom of the mug and fishes around the pantry for some oats and dried fruit. Once the kettle lights up, Kokichi pours the boiling water into both, and then he sets them aside in the microwave.

He drops his towel off in the laundry room, and then he happily beelines towards the bedroom where he clambers onto the bed, earthquaking the mattress enough to stir Shuichi from his sleep.

And when he tugs the blanket over himself, Shuichi follows suit and wraps him up in a sleepy hug.

Kokichi sighs.

+

When the alarm beeps, Shuichi grumbles and detaches himself for a brief moment to turn it off. Once he returns, he mumbles a hopeful promise into Kokichi’s neck.

“We’re both off this weekend, we can have the day to ourselves.” He breathes out, leaving his boyfriend’s neck slick with the moisture of his sleepy breath.

But they both know that it’ll go like their last few days off, where they sleep in, tangled together and snoring. Only to leave the room to accept their order of take-out, eat messily on their couch, and maybe nap there instead of the bedroom. It’s like clockwork.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a companion fic for an art piece I made. I never published it even though i mostly had it done back in August, but i kept revisiting it to edit because my writing style changes a lot, and i felt like this piece didn't reflect it but again it was almost all done anyways so i just pushed through said, lemme just publish it so i can move onto my next projects!


End file.
